Broken Bones
by Cort 85
Summary: Jack gets injured off-world and then re-assigned. What will happen after that? Jack/Sam
1. Chapter 1 Replacement

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: While I don't have a specific timeline set up, I imagine this happening sometime during Season 7, after that definitely AU.

Chapter 1 – Replacement

"Come on General… the Academy? Seriously?"

"For the tenth time Colonel, yes you are going to be an instructor at the Air Force Academy till the end of the spring semester," General George Hammond said from behind his desk at the SGC. "Listen Jack, your knee was shattered during that last battle you were in off-world, and the knee replacement surgery you just had requires months of rehabilitation. I'm sorry, but I can't have SG-1 on stand-down for that long," he finished, truly sympathizing with the man sitting in front of him.

"Just think, when you come back your knee will be better than it was before all of this and you will be an even bigger asset to your team and this base. You will be re-assigned to the Academy starting on Monday, which gives you the weekend to figure out what area you want to teach and to get settled into your new role. While you are gone Major Carter will take command of SG-1 and will choose another experienced officer to join the team temporarily. By the end of the semester your rehabilitation will be complete and at that time you will resume your posting at this base," Hammond finished, anticipating that Jack would have asked about all of that before accepting the re-assignment.

After sitting there for a moment going over everything that he just heard, Jack finally spoke up, "Well, at least I get to choose what I have to teach."

Hearing this, Hammond knew that Jack wouldn't give him anymore trouble about this. "Just make sure you choose the right area. Whether or not you believe it, you have a lot to offer the next generation so I want to make sure you give a lot of thought to this decision." Standing up, Hammond extended his hand to Jack and simply said, "Good luck, son."

With nothing else to say, Jack stood up shook his hand and said, "Thank you Sir," before turning to hobble out of the office. _Stupid crutches_, he thought, _it will take a while to get use to these_.

***

Four and a half months later Jack was so happy to once again see the gray walls of Stargate Command. SG-1 was currently finishing up a mission and was expected back in a few minutes, so Jack headed towards the Gate room to greet them when they stepped back through the event horizon. After a few minutes the Gate activated and Jack looked at his watch, right on time he noticed, not that he would expect anything less from Carter.

Less than a minute later, Carter led her team through the Gate casually talking to them about the mission they just completed, well until someone called out "Hey Sam!" With that, she immediately looked around the Gate room and saw Jack standing at the base of the ramp.

"What are you doing here?" she asked walking towards him. "I didn't think you started back here till next week," Sam finished now standing directly in front of him with a huge smile on her face.

"Well, this old soldier still has a few tricks left up his sleeve."

"Hey, hey, hey… what have I told you about calling yourself old?"

By this time they had the attention of everyone in the Gate room and the control room, they were all taken back by the conversation going on between Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill.

"Well…" Jack started to say, "I believe you said that I shouldn't. But wait, that can't be right because then that would mean that I also shouldn't do this…" and with that Jack put his arms around Sam's waist and pulled her closer to him and kissed her softly on the lips.

At that moment you could have heard a pin drop, everyone that had been listening to the conversation stared at them slack-jawed, unable to process what was happening in front of them.

"COLONEL O'NEILL, MAJOR CARTER, REPORT TO MY OFFICE IMMEDIATELY! EVERYONE ELSE, BACK TO WORK." General Hammond's face was red with fury as he headed to his office for what he was sure would be a very interesting conversation.

Jack and Sam looked at each other for a moment, shrugged, and then casually walked out of the Gate room holding hands headed towards General Hammond's office.

"You wanted to see us, Sir?" Jack asked peeking into General Hammond's office.

"You two, in here now! And shut the door behind you!" Once the door was shut Hammond continued, "Just what the hell do you think you are doing?" he asked pacing behind his desk.

For a moment Jack looked to be deep in thought and then finally spoke up, "Oh, you mean the kiss? I was just happy to see Sam again," he plainly answered.

"Happy to see her?! Do you consider a kiss to be an appropriate way to express that?"

"Yes, Sir. How else would you suggest I greet my wife when I haven't seen her in two weeks?" Jack asked Hammond with an innocent look on his face.

Hearing that, Hammond collapsed into his chair out of shock. _Wife_, he thought, _I knew this would be an interesting conversation, but I never expected that_.

So, what do you think? Want more? Let me know, if there is interest I will write more. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2 A Higher Power

A/N: Thanks to all that left a review, I really appreciate it. I can't believe the response to the first chapter, I only hope that I can keep it up. Anyways, here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 2 – A Higher Power

"If you two got married, protocol dictates that I be informed. Personnel files, among other things, require updating when people under command get married," General Hammond said when he finally found his voice.

"You don't have to worry about that, Sir. It's already been taken care of," Jack offered, rather pleased with himself.

"Taken care of? By who?"

"The Air Force Chief of Staff"

"The Air Force Chief of Staff? Why would he be the one to do that, I'm sure he's got more important matters that demand his time," Hammond said, in utter disbelief at the direction this conversation was headed.

"Well, when the President of the United States asks you to do something, it's a good idea to go ahead and do it. Even I know that, Sir," Jack finished having a hard time hiding his smile.

"The President? Now why would the President do that… and how would he even know about you two?"

"That's and easy one, Sir. He did it because he wanted to see your reaction to all of this," Jack said waving his hands around. "Oh, that reminds me, I need to make sure I get a copy of the surveillance videos from earlier. Anyways, as for your other question, well it came up in conversation when we talked about a month ago. And before you even ask, the story about how we ended up talking is for another time."

"Major Carter, I'm guessing you're still going by Carter, you've been rather quiet during all of this, is there anything you would like to add?" Hammond asked turning his attention away from Colonel O'Neill, still not sure what to make of everything he just heard.

"Yes, Sir, it's still Carter and no, there's nothing that I would like to add except that the President should be contacting you later today to officially notify you that I will now be reporting directly to you, and to go over a few other changes. If there is nothing else…"

"That's it for now," Hammond interrupted. "You two are dismissed… oh, and by the way, Congratulations!"

"Thank you, Sir!" they replied in unison, and then exited General Hammond's office.

***

After leaving General Hammond's Office Sam headed for her post-mission medical exam and debriefing while Jack headed to her lab to wait for her to finish up. Fortunately they were both able to avoid conversations about their actions in the Gate room earlier, while news of the kiss had spread around the base the conversation with General Hammond had not. There were whispered conversations wherever either of them went but no one was willing to confront them.

By the time Sam finally made it back to her lab all it took was one look at Jack before they both burst out laughing. After regaining her composure Sam spoke up, "I can't believe how on edge everyone is, it's like they're walking on pins and needles around us."

"I would imagine that right now they are all trying to figure out why we have locked up and charged with breaking regulations for… our little display earlier," Jack said with a mischievous grin. "So, got any ideas for a big reveal to the base? I figure we should have as much fun with this as possible."

"I don't, but I'm guessing by that look in your eye that you do. So spill, what have you got in mind?"

"Well, since you asked so nicely I was thinking that…" and for the next few minutes Jack explained what he was thinking.

"Oh that should be fun and I'll go along with it, but on two conditions; first that after this we keep a low profile on base, and second that we let General Hammond know what's going on. The first because while everyone will know about us, it wouldn't be conductive for the work environment for us to walk around holding hands and giving each other kisses whenever the mood might strike. Hey, don't give me that look Jack, you know I'm right. And the second because, well quite frankly I don't think General Hammond's head has stopped spinning from the first bit of news he got from us and I really don't even think about how he would react to this next bit. Deal?"

"Alright Sam, deal," Jack said somewhat disappointed. "Just don't expect me to keep a low profile once we get off this base."

"Oh, you had better not. Seven years of that is more than enough for the rest of our life." With that Sam reached over to grab the phone, "so why don't you give General Hammond a call to give him the head's up on your plan…"

"Fine," Jack said taking the phone from Sam. A minute later the phone call was finished and Jack hung the phone back up. "So, wanna go get something to eat?" Jack asked extending his arm towards Sam.

"I would love to!" Linking her arm with Jack's, they headed off towards the commissary.

***

Walking into the commissary Jack couldn't help but notice how crowded it was in there. "Since when does everyone get their dinner here? I don't think I've ever seen it this crowded," Jack whispered to Sam.

"Since a new head chef was hired last week the quality of food on the menu has drastically improved, and like any changes that happen on the base, it didn't take long for the word to spread about the new cuisine. Next thing I know, people are showing up here that I didn't even know worked here."

"Well, I guess everyone got tired of brown-bagging it," Jack said gently guiding Sam towards the line with a hand on the small of her back.

The line to get dinner moved along quickly and they had just reached the dessert counter when someone called out, "Jack, Sam, over here." Turning their heads they looked around to see Daniel waving them towards his table. Jack quickly grabbed a couple pieces of cake and handed Sam a dish of blue jello before heading towards the table.

Upon arriving at the table Jack started looking around when Daniel interrupted, "if you're looking for Teal'c, he will be arriving shortly. We were planning on meeting I just got here a little early to make sure we got our usual table."

Nodding, they all took a seat and began eating their dinners. After a few bites Jack turned his tray around and was reaching for a piece of the cake when an elbow was jabbed into his side. "Oww, what was that for?" Jack asked turning towards Sam.

"You know better than that Jack. Dinner first and then dessert," she quickly answered with a stern look. Silently admitting defeat, Jack turned his tray back around to finish eating his dinner.

During all of this Daniel, along people at the surrounding tables, had stopped eating and turned to watch what was going on between Jack and Sam. Before they even had a chance to notice the stares, Teal'c had showed up. With a quick glance, Teal'c knew that something was off, "what is going on here?" he flatly asked.

That was all it took, hearing his voice, everyone else that was eating in the commissary turned to see what Teal'c was looking at. Jack and Sam simply shrugged and then resumed eating. A moment later Daniel finally spoke up, "umm, guys what's going on between you two?"

"Just eating dinner," Jack said with a mouth full of mashed potatoes.

"That's not what I meant and you know it. Jack, since when does Sam call you by your first name."

"Well, Daniel," Jack started to say emphasizing 'Daniel', "it is my name, so…"

"JACK! Enough already," was all Daniel could say at the moment, getting too frustrated to say anything else.

At that moment Sam started giggling, "oh come on Jack, haven't you had enough fun? Just go ahead and tell him, and them," she said gesturing to everyone else that had their eyes glued to the unfolding scene.

"Me, have enough fun? Never! Besides, you know I'm no good with words." Standing up, Jack stretched his hand out towards Sam. "Come here," was all he had to say before Sam stood up. Pulling her into a hug, Jack said "love ya!" and leaned in and kissed her on the lips.

The commissary was so quiet you could have heard a pen drop. The kiss was finally interrupted when General Hammond's voice came over the speaker.

"Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, please report to my office immediately. Oh, and Major Carter, if he tries to find a way to sneak off the base you have my permission to use whatever means you have to get him here. Just make sure that your husband doesn't cause any trouble along the way."

"HUSBAND?" every voice in the commissary, and probably the base, called out.

"Umm, Jack, Sam, was there something you wanted to tell us?" Daniel asked gesturing to himself and Teal'c.

"Yep, Sam and I got married a little over two weeks ago!" and with that Jack shoved his hand into his pockets, and left the commissary whistling with a huge grin on his face.

All Sam could do was shrug her shoulders and follow him out. After all, she had to make sure he was going to General Hammond's office.

Once they reached to elevators, Sam finally asked, "So how did you get General Hammond to agree to say that over the speaker system?"

"It was quite simple really, I simply promised to go over everything that I've been up to since he reassigned me to the Academy."

"Well this is one conversation I've got to hear. I don't even know what you were up to while you were there; you managed to stay under the radar on that one. I even asked a few professors that I know there, and none of them could recall a Colonel O'Neill teaching classes. They don't know everybody, but let's just say you have a way of making your presence know where ever you go."

Jack's smile just got even bigger as they approached the door to General Hammond's office.

TBC

Well, what do you think? I'm still deciding what subject I want Jack to have spent his time teaching, so if you have any ideas let me know, I'm always open to suggestions on what you would like to read.


	3. Chapter 3 You Taught What!

Alright, here is the next chapter it's a little short but I hope you enjoy it. I will try to update soon but I'm in the process of moving so I don't know when that will be.

Chapter 3 – You Taught What?!?!

Upon entering General Hammond's office Jack began speaking before anyone else could even open their mouth. "Sir, before we begin I would like to request that a message be sent to the Tok'ra. I would like to see if Jacob and Selmak are available to come for a visit, just make sure that they know it's not an urgent matter, important, but not life or death," Jack finished unsure of what else to say.

With a knowing look, General Hammond replied, "that can be arranged Colonel. Now, if there is nothing else I'd like to get started."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir! You held up your end of our deal and now I will do the same," Jack said sitting down. Looking at the General and Sam, he added, "you might want to get comfortable, this will definitely take a while."

Once they were all comfortably seated, Jack began. "Since Sam is already curious about why none of the people she knows at the Academy knew of me, I will go ahead and let you know that during my time there I was not known as 'Colonel Jack O'Neill' an officer reassigned there to recover from an injury received in the line of duty. Now I know you are both wondering what's going on, but just bear with me for a little while and everything will be explained."

Hammond and Sam merely nodded indicating that he should continue, knowing that nothing would be gained by trying to ask questions now.

"Once I received my orders reassigning me to the Academy I immediately set out to get a meeting with the Superintendent and fortunately there was one available later that day. Now I'm not going to go into details, but after a lengthy conversation we were able to get the classes that I would be teaching squared away."

"The following Monday I made my way to the Aeronautics Research Center to begin teaching my classes."

"Jack," Sam interrupted, "your classes were in the Aero Lab? During my time at the Academy the building was primarily used for various aeronautical research facilities, what exactly were you teaching? Have they changed things around since I was last there?"

"Umm, no. Nothing has been changed around," Jack sheepishly replied looking down at the ground. "I was there as Dr. Jonathan O'Neill, a professor of computer engineering." When Jack finished he didn't dare look up from the nice little spot he had found on the floor in General Hammond's office.

It took a few moments for that last bit to sink in, but finally Sam spoke up. "Whoa, what do you mean by 'Dr.' and 'computer engineering', where did all of that come from?" The expression on Hammond's face indicated that he was wondering the same thing.

"Well… the fact of the matter is that I have a Doctorate in computer engineering. It's not something I like to advertise, just something I ended up getting and that's all I'm going to say about it."

"Umm…Jack, if you know so much about computers how is it that you were able to get away without letting on that you knew so much, especially with all of the computer problems that tend to arise around here?" Sam asked unsure what to make of this.

"Well actually I thought I might have been found out a few years back when I got my head sucked," seeing two blank faces looking at him Jack decided to elaborate, "you know, when I had the knowledge of the Ancients downloaded into my head. Anyways, after I started rewriting some of the base code on the computers I thought that I would be found out."

"Why did you think that? At the time you were doing a lot of things because of the knowledge in your head that you later didn't remember," General Hammond asked before Sam had a chance to speak.

"Well…" Jack started to say, "When I got all of their knowledge I was tapping into it to get what I needed. For example, when I came up with the equation to calculate planetary drift, or something like that, I already had a basic understanding of math, and math is, well let's face it; there isn't much that changes with math no matter what the culture is. But with the computer programming, there was no way the Ancient knowledge could get me to change base code if I didn't already have an understanding of it. Are you following me so far?"

After a moment Sam spoke up, "yea, I think I'm with you so far."

"Ok, then. So using my knowledge of our computer systems to rewrite programming code and their knowledge of where the Asgard where and what was required for me to make that trip I was able to add the necessary information to our systems base code to make it all possible."

"Well… I suppose that all makes a little more sense now." With the gears turning in her head, Sam began talking again, "so, if you wanted to keep a low profile, why did you agree to teach classes where that would be impossible?"

"She's got a valid point Colonel, there are several classes you could have taught using your extensive field experience. Why not try to teach a class in that area?"

"Actually… I requested to those classes to teach," Jack said looking up to two blank faces. "Come on, have you ever tried saluting while walking around on crutches? Let me tell you, it's no picnic. There was no way I was going to do that for four months, and that left me with one option, which is why I had the meeting with the Superintendent. During that meeting we came to an agreement that I would be able to teach as a civilian, in exchange I would upgrade the computer systems for the simulators in the Aero Lab while teaching classes about what I was doing."

After hearing this last bit of information all General Hammond and Sam could do was smile and shake their heads. Finally Sam spoke up, "Jack; only you would come up with something like that."

"Well," Hammond interjected, "that's enough for now, and it's been a long day for all of us. We will continue this… enlightening conversation at a later time. Dismissed."

"Yes, Sir!" Jack and Sam replied in unison and exited the office.

A/N: Ok, I hope that I was able to explain everything so that it made sense. With the military etiquette, I'm not sure how it works if you have to use crutches so if I got that part wrong, please just go along with me on this, that's the way I needed it to be for my story. Please leave a review, I really like to know what you think and I thrive off of them :) Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4 Hi Dad!

I'm sorry for taking so long to post another chapter, real life has been really crazy with my recent move and new job, but things are finally settling down so I've got time to write again. I hope you enjoy this chapter, even if it is a little short.

Chapter 4 – Hi Dad!

Upon exiting General Hammond's office Sam quietly headed to the elevators and Jack was content to not be the one to start the conversation that he knew was coming, so he quietly fell in line behind Sam towards the elevators and from there… home. The ride home went quickly enough and before he knew it, Jack was sitting next to Sam in his living room.

Sam sat patiently next to Jack, quietly staring at him with a hint of a smirk on her face waiting for the long silence to finally push Jack to say something. Not that she would tell him right now, but Sam was quite amused with the entire situation and wasn't even mad at him for not telling her that he had a doctorate. When she thought about it, he had never actually lied about anything; he just never volunteered that particular piece of information.

It only took about five minutes before Jack had had enough and said, "What?"

With a big smile on her face Sam simply replied, "Oh, nothing…Dr."

"Ahh… so that's where you want to go with this conversation," Jack said realizing that Sam was going to thoroughly enjoy all of this.

"Yep, so spill how was the first day of class? I'm just dying to know what your students thought about their new professor that came hobbling into the first day of class on a pair of crutches. And how did you explain your injury, I can't imagine that anything close to the truth would fit with image you were trying to portray at the Academy."

By this point Sam had turned to lay on the couch, holding a pillow to her chest, eagerly waiting to hear the details like a kid waiting for their bedtime story.

Settling into his seat on the couch, Jack began his story and a few hours later he finished talking about all the time he spent teaching at the Academy.

***

The next morning while eating breakfast Jack and Sam received a call from the base informing them that the Tok'ra had sent a message saying that Jacob and Selmak would be coming through later in the day. When they arrived on base about an hour later, they talked to Walter and figured out that they had about two more hours before the Tok'ra dialed in again. With that information Sam headed to her lab to get in some work while she could, knowing that it would be her only opportunity for quite a while. Jack on the other hand started walking around the base, yo-yo in hand, not really going anywhere in particular, and simply using the time to think about what he would say to Jacob when he arrived.

Two hours later all that Jack managed to accomplish was learning some new yo-yo tricks and not much else. He figured that he should say 'hi did', but beyond that he hadn't really come up with anything else. Standing in front of the Gate waiting for it to activate, Jack was preparing to do what he did best: wing it.

Less than a minute later Jacob stepped through the Gate looking around trying to figure out why he had been asked to come. At the bottom of the ramp he saw George, Jack, and of course Sam waiting for his arrival, as he started walking forward he heard Sam say "Hey Dad!" and he could have sworn that he heard Jack's voice in there to.

"Hey kiddo, how's it going?" he asked walking up to give her a hug.

"Umm, well…" was all that Sam could say before Jack interrupted.

"What? No hug for your son?" Jack said. Jacob just stood there giving him a strange look, so he elaborated, "Well son-in-law," Jack finished nervously looking at him.

At this point, everyone within ear-shot got instantly quiet, and turned to look at the unfolding scene in front of them. Jacob stood there for a moment while in sunk in and then slowly looked over at George who gave a little nod of his head, and then a little more closely at Jack and Sam where he saw them holding hands and matching wedding rings on their left hands.

With a growing smile on his face Jacob said, "Of course you get a hug you sly S.O.B." he finished walking up and enveloping Jack in a bear hug.

"Ok, not exactly the reaction I was expecting," a rather stunned Jack managed to say.

"Oh, please. You two have been dancing around each other for years. And yes, it was pretty obvious to anyone that knows either one of you. Anyways, I really am happy for both of you. Now I just have to hear the story of how all of this happened, and I'm sure it's quite a story.

TBC

A/N: Sorry about the cliffhanger, I really am going to try and post again soon with 'Chapter 5 – A Wedding?', hopefully within a day. I wasn't planning on splitting this into two chapters, but it's been so long since I last posted that I wanted to go ahead and put something up for you. Thanks for sticking with me and I would really love to hear what you think, so please leave a review. Thanks!


	5. Chapter 5 A Wedding?

A/N: As promised here is the next, little chapter. Again sorry that this is short, but I initially planned on it being part of the last chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 5 – A Wedding?

Looking around the briefing table Jack could tell that everyone was ready for him to get started. "Well, everyone now knows that Sam and I are married, but we have only been married for about three weeks now. As I previously mentioned to General Hammond, we haven't even seen each other for the last two weeks, due to the busy schedules that we have both had, so I guess that I'll start my story a week before we got married." Looking around at everyone seated at the table he saw no objections to starting there, so he continued on.

"Up until a month ago, I still occasionally had to use a cane when walking around, but I had finally reached the point in my rehab that I no longer required it, so I got a hold of Danny, T, and Sam to see if they wanted to have a sort of team-night, and catch up on everything that had been going on. I didn't do it sooner because, well I'm me and I didn't want anyone constantly trying to help me out with something that I could do by myself," Jack finished with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Anyways, it was a pretty typical evening for us which meant that T had to drive Danny-boy home after having only one beer and that left Sam and myself to put everything back up. While we were in the kitchen putting stuff away we got talking about our plans for the next weekend."

*****

"_So sir, what will you be doing next weekend? Have you got something going on at The Academy?" Sam asked as she started to wash some dishes._

"_Actually Carter, I'll be at a wedding at The Academy on Saturday," Jack said as casually as he could manage._

"_Really sir, a wedding? Anyone I know?"_

"_Well… as a matter of fact yes. Me."_

_Upon hearing that Sam didn't know what to say, so she turned around to face him. One problem though, when she turned around she didn't see him standing anywhere in the kitchen… that is, until she looked down._

_Kneeling on the floor in front of her was none other than Jack O'Neill with a ring box extended in his hand. If even possible, she was even more speechless now._

"_Carter… Samantha, I have loved you for so long now and nothing would make me happier that you becoming my wife. Will you marry me?"_

_Still unable to find any words, Sam lowered her left hand for Jack to put the ring on. Once he slid it on her finger and stood back up Sam immediately threw her arms around him and leaned in to give him a big kiss._

_When they finally broke apart, they both had huge goofy grins on their faces. Breaking the silence, Jack spoke up, "So is that a yes, or did you need some time to think about it?"_

_Giving him a little punch on the shoulder Sam said, "Of course it's a 'yes', but what took you so long? We have been out of the same chain of command for over two months now. After the first week went by and you didn't say anything, I thought maybe your feelings had changed."_

"_Well, as silly as it may sound I didn't want to propose until I could get down on my knee and do it properly and my injury kept me from doing that until now," Jack finished, nervously looking towards the floor._

"_Jack, that's not silly at all, in fact it's really sweet. Although I do have another question for you, why get married next weekend? That doesn't give us any time."_

_Motioning that they should leave the kitchen Jack started talking, "Well, next week is the start of final prep, followed by the actual finals, and with your upcoming mission schedule there won't be time until I'm back at the SGC…"_

"_Which would put us in the same chain of command again," Sam finished for him, suddenly understanding it all._

*****

"The next weekend we had a very quiet ceremony at the Academy chapel, and then went back to our busy schedules," Jack finished as he reached for a glass of water.

TBC

A/N: Well, that's all for now. I hope that you enjoyed and that you might even leave a review for me. I will try to post again this week, but for now I need to work on my other story, Unending-Revised. If you haven't read it before, I hope that you give it a try.


	6. Chapter 6 Back to the Academy

A/N: Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I updated this story – sorry about the delay. For some reason I had a really hard getting this chapter written, with that in mind I welcome any, and I dare say, all kinds of feedback you might have to offer. Thanks to all that have reviewed and for sticking with me :) Enjoy!

Chapter 6 – Back to the Academy

After they had finished their little 'briefing' earlier about their wedding, Jack followed Sam back to her lab.

"I know that you were surprised to see me back here a few days ago since I wasn't expected until next week, but I managed to get a few days off before the award ceremonies and graduation."

"So you're still assigned to the academy," Sam finished for him.

"Yep, I've got a few more days as Dr. Jonathan O'Neill," Jack said, surprisingly slightly amused with the idea.

"I know that look," Sam said putting aside the work she had in front of her; "You're up to something aren't you?"

"Who? Me?" Jack said in mock surprise, "Never." And on that note, he turned a left Sam's lab, whistling all the way down the corridor.

***

Dr. O'Neill sat patiently on the stage waiting for his turn to make an award presentation to the cadets. Normally as Colonel O'Neill he would be quite fidgety by this point, but as Dr. O'Neill he couldn't. Over the course of the semester he had perfected the 'professor' image and he wasn't about to slip up now.

"And now Dr. O'Neill has a presentation to make."

_Alright, that's my cue_, standing up Jack made his way to the podium. "Thank you for the introduction General Kerrigan."

"As I'm sure many of you know I was here this semester to teach a class about computer programming while updating the programming for the simulators. What you probably aren't aware of is that because of the cadets in my class, we were able to not only to update the simulators in the Aero Lab, but many other vital systems in there as well."

"It is because of their dedication and hard work that I am here today to make a presentation."

Turning to address the cadets that had gathered on the side of the stage, Jack finished the little speech that he had prepared. "Cadets, it is my honor and privilege to present you all with a special achievement award for your accomplishments over the course of the semester."

What remained of the ceremony went by quickly and before he knew it cadets were approaching him to tell him how much they enjoyed his class. With a few of the seniors he mentioned how it would be nice to work with them in the future, knowing that orders had already been drawn up assigning them to Stargate Command, well technically it said NORAD, but he knew it was really for SGC. And oh how he couldn't wait until they reported for duty.

***

The weekend quickly approached and unknown to Jack his plans were being changed, no longer would he be attending the graduation ceremony but instead a ceremony that would be honoring him, not that he would know that beforehand.

"Sam, why do I have to wear my dress blues? I'm supposed to be going to the graduation ceremony at the Academy as Dr. O'Neill."

"Jack, stop whining. You aren't going to the graduation ceremony and the only thing that I'm going to tell you is that where we are going requires both of us to be in dress blues."

"Alright, alright," Jack said raising his hands, knowing that the best thing for him to do was admit defeat with the look that he was getting from his wife. Grabbing his jacket, he continued "Maybe you can answer one question for me then. Does this have anything to do with our new president, Mr. Henry Hayes?"

After taking a moment to think it over, Sam finally answered "Yea, you could say that."

***

"Well, here we are," Sam proudly announced as she pulled up to the entrance gate at the base.

"What? The base? Since when do we have to wear dress blues to the base… whoa, hold on a minute, how does the President fit into all of this?" Jack asked in rapid fire, trying to put all the pieces together.

"You'll just have to wait and see," Sam replied with a knowing smirk.

Upon entering the Gate Room, it was obvious even to Jack that it was set up for a ceremony, most likely a promotion ceremony since most everyone that worked at the SGC and, if what Sam said was accurate, the President was there.

The opening part of the ceremony went by quickly enough, and before he knew it Jack saw the president approach the podium at the top of the Gate ramp.

"These last seven, almost eight years have brought about many changes not only for the SGC, but for our country, for our world, and dare I say our galaxy. What started out as a small endeavor to gain knowledge and technology to help us keep up with our many adversaries in the galaxy, has far extended beyond the grounds of this base and surpassed our initial need to stay on even ground with our enemies. It is because of the great success of this command that I am creating a new department based out of the Pentagon that will supervise all areas related to knowledge and technology gained by off-world activity that will be called Home World Security."

President Hayes paused to give everyone a moment to absorb this new information before continuing, "At this time I would like to ask Major General George Hammond to approach."

With Hammond now standing next to the podium, the President began speaking again, this time to the General. "General Hammond, I am here today to recognize your accomplishments as commander of this base and the exceptional way that you have risen to every challenge that has been presented. It is my honor and privilege Major General George Hammond, to promote you to the grade of Lieutenant General, commander of Home World Security. Congratulations Lieutenant General Hammond!"

The President was barely able to finish the last sentence before the Gate Room erupted into deafening cheers and applause.

When the crowd started to die down Jacob Carter approached the podium to help the President pin the new stars on George's shoulder, during which time the noise from the crowd picked back up.

After a few minutes the Gate room had quieted down and Hammond began to speak, "Thank you! Thank you all so much. I has been my honor and pleasure to serve with you here as commander of this base. While I will no longer see you all on a regular basis, I will look forward to future visits to this base knowing that you will be in good hands."

Pausing for a moment, Hammond enjoyed seeing the base personnel casually looking around the Gate room trying to figure out who their new CO would be; if there was an unknown General somewhere that they had failed to notice. He even heard Jack whisper to Sam, "I wonder what shrub they are going to stick us with." It was all Sam could do to keep a smirk from spreading across her face.

"Now, I'm sure you are all curious as to who your new CO will be. Well, without further ado, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Brigadier General O'Neill," Hammond finished.

Jack just stood there; completely unaware that everyone had their eyes fixed upon him.

Hammond finally took pity on him and spoke up, "Jack, will you be coming up here?"

"Umm… Sir, unless it has somehow escaped your notice, I'm not a General," Jack replied, still unaware of what he was referring to.

"Well, that will be remedied as soon as you get up here," Hammond said holding back a chuckle.

_Hey, hold on a second_, Jack thought, _General O'Neill? Hammond asking me to go up there? Wow, I spent to long as Dr. O'Neill; I can't believe I didn't figure that out. Well, I'd better get up there before I look like an idiot… well, more of an idiot._

As soon as Jack reached the top of the ramp, the President stepped up to the podium and began speaking.

"Colonel O'Neill your tireless dedication to your work reflects well not only on this base and the Air Force, but on our country and planet as well. Notwithstanding the numerous times that you and your team have been directly responsible for saving our planet, and galaxy, I have never met anyone more deserving of such a position and promotion as you are. It is truly my honor to promote you the grade of Brigadier General. Congratulations General O'Neill!"

As soon as the President finished speaking, the crowd in the Gate room once again erupted into deafening cheers and applause. During this time Generals Hammond and Carter approached Jack standing on either side of him and removed the Colonel insignia, and replaced them with the pair of General's stars.

By the time that the crowd had finally quieted down, Jack was standing behind the podium ready to speak. "Wow… well then, that was certainly unexpected," He started to say as a wave of laughter passed through the room. "Well, you all know that I'm not big on speeches, so I'll keep this short."

Taking a deep breath, Jack continued, "I wish I could say that I could say that I got to where I am now completely on my own… but the truth is, I wouldn't be standing here if it wasn't for the courage and support of each and every one of you. I hope that I can be as good a leader as we've had in the past… and as good as you deserve," Jack finished unsure of anything else that he could say.

After Jack finished his little speech, and yet another round of applause, everyone headed to the commissary where a small reception had been arranged.

TBC

Next up will be the reception… and more ;) I would really appreciate any reviews you might have to offer, and if there is anything you would like to see just let me know: I only have a general idea for the rest of the story, so there is definitely a way for me to include any suggestions you might have.


	7. Chapter 7 Not the Same

Chapter 7 – Not the Same

It wasn't long before the reception was in full swing and Jack was able to slip to a corner of the commissary and finally start to take in everything that was happening. Not even a month ago he was teaching a class at the Academy, hobbling around with the aid of a cane, and not to mention a bachelor, and now he is a happily married Brigadier General in command of, arguably, the most top-secret base in the world.

Mean while, from the opposite side of the room, Jacob Carter recognized the quiet look of contemplation on the new General's face and decided that now was as good a time as any to talk to the man. After all, they had quite a bit to catch up on.

"So…" Jacob started to say after he made his way across the room; it was enough to bring Jack back to the moment.

"You know," Jack began, already aware that Jacob knew that he had been going over recent events in his mind, "You really surprised me with how you reacted to me suddenly being married to Sam. Granted, I didn't really know what to expect, but it certainly wasn't that."

With a quite chuckle to himself, and a look of amusement on his face, Jacob replied, "As I mentioned before, I had known for a while that you two had feelings for each other that went beyond the normal CO, 2IC relationship, and by that I mean what is normal for this place," he said sweeping his arm in front of him.

"I also know that while you have a tendency to break the rules, that you would never do anything that would jeopardize the integrity of your team, and especially this command, which also meant that you would never act on those feelings."

"Having said that, I couldn't have been more happy when you told me because I knew that for you two to have finally gotten together that it would have happened in such a way that no one would question whether or not any regulations were broken."

Jack quickly went over everything that had just been said, "Well… I guess that if you look at it like that then…" his voice trailed off. Suddenly shaking his head, he continued, "But I was still expecting…"

"For me to knock the crap out of you," Jacob finished for him, laughing. "Come on now, do you really think that Sam would let me get away with hitting her new husband. We both know her well enough that she would have returned the favor to me."

At this comment, both men couldn't contain their laughter any longer and let it out.

"You know though…" Jacob started to say after a little while, "I would have really enjoyed seeing George's reaction when you broke the news to him."

Before he had even finished speaking, Jack had started to make his way across the room. "Hold that thought dad, I'll be right back."

From his vantage point Jacob saw Jack quickly whisper something to the President before making his way back over to wear he was standing.

"What was that about?" Jacob inquired as soon as Jack was standing next to him again.

"While I was at the Academy teaching my class, I ran into the President after he finished a meeting with the Superintendent, General Kerrigan. We talked for a while and I let him on my plans to marry Carter and then how I had wanted to surprise Hammond with it. He said that he would take care of making sure that the paperwork didn't cross Hammond's desk on the condition that he would be able to see the tapes of his reaction when we finally decided to clue General Hammond in."

"I went over there to let him know that now was as good a time as any to see that the security cameras picked up, especially since you just mentioned that you would want to see it as well."

***

The two generals and the President were able to slip away unnoticed and before long they were all crowded into the security office. In a few short moments the security footage from the gateroom that day was pulled up and Jacob and the President were standing directly in front of the monitors while Jack was happy to lean off to the side so that he could watch both the monitors as well as their reaction to the footage.

Following the footage from the gateroom, Jack had also arranged for the footage from the commissary later that day to play directly afterwards. The next five minutes were uncomfortably quite for Jack as both men silently stared at the monitors, their faces betraying no sign of any reaction to what was playing before them.

Jacob and the President exchanged a quick look before turning to face Jack. Despite his outward appearance of being uninterested, something he had perfected in countless briefings over the years, he couldn't wait to see how two men would react.

"Nicely done son," Jacob said, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah, well done… General," President Hayes said, echoing Jacob's sentiment.

"It's going to take a while to get use to being called General," Jack said, seeing the perfect opportunity to bring something up. "You know sir, this place just won't be the same without Colonel O'Neill roaming the halls…" he trailed looking at the President out of the corner of his eye.

"You know Jack, you're right," President Hayes replied, instantly picking up on the direction that the conversation was going. "It's long overdue, consider it effective immediately. Give me a few minutes and I'll get you the necessary paperwork; it'll be up to you to make the announcement."

"With pleasure sir!" Jack instantly replied. On that note, both men headed out of the security office, leaving a very confused Jacob in their wake.

'_What in the world are they up to,'_ Jacob silently wondered.

'_The only way to find out is to follow them_,' Selmak replied. Deciding to take over their shared body, Selmak started down the hall after them to allow Jacob to focus his attention on the odd conversation they just witnessed to try and make sense out of it.

TBC

See, I didn't forget about Selmak

A/N: The next chapter will be up in less than a week, I Promise! I'm going to try and stay a chapter ahead of my posts so that I don't leave you wondering how long it will be before I post again – so once chapter 9 is finished, chapter 8 will be put up (if you're curious it's called Really Cool Stuff).


	8. Chapter 8 Really Cool Stuff

Where did everyone go? Well, anyways, as promised here is the next chapter. I hope that you enjoy!

Chapter 8 – Really Cool Stuff

After making a few stops along the way, all three of them eventually made their way back to the commissary. As soon as they walked in the door it was obvious that their presence hadn't been missed.

The tables were continually being restocked with food, all the officers and enlisted personnel were in mixed groups talking about only god knows what; all in all, a good time was to be had by everyone.

Jack casually made his way towards Sam once he spotted where exactly she was, "Hey Carter!" he said loud enough to get her attention as he approached.

"Sir?" she instinctively replied, turning around to face him.

"I know that we had previously decided that you would continue to use 'Carter' for your last name instead of 'O'Neill' but seeing as how I'm a General now I have a feeling that I will be hearing a lot more 'Sirs' and 'Generals' than I will of my own last name, and I was wondering if…" Jack trailed off, not quite sure how to phrase the question.

"If I would like to officially change my last name to 'O'Neill'?" Sam finished for him. Seeing how surprisingly nervous he was, she continued, "I'd love to!"

"Really?" Jack asked, not expecting her to be excited as he was.

"Of course, for nearly the last seven years I've wondered what it would be like to be Mrs. O'Neill. I couldn't be happier to share your last name, sure we initially agreed that I would be Carter, but we did that mostly because we wanted to surprise everyone with our marriage… and we already did that."

"Sweet!" was all he could manage to say, pulling her into a gentle hug.

When they broke apart a moment later, Jack started to reach into his pocket and said, "I think that this might make things official… for now anyways." As he finished speaking, he handed her a name badge that said 'O'Neill', "It's a spare one I had in the locker room, I thought you could go ahead and switch it out with the one you are currently wearing."

Sam took it from him and began removing the one she had, "Thanks! Do I want to know how or why it is that you left to get it though?"

"Soon enough," was all that Jack said in reply. Once he saw that she was finished, he made his way to the side of the room where the President and Generals Carter and Hammond were standing, giving the President a little nod along the way.

Once he got over there he got everyone's attention and began to speak.

"I'd like to take this opportunity while everyone is still here to conduct my first order of business as commander of this base."

Seeing that he had everyone's undivided attention he continued, "Will Major O'Neill, formerly Major Carter, please approach."

'_Oh god, what is he up to now_,' was the only thought running through her head as she approached her husband.

"Major O'Neill, it is my pleasure to announce your immediate, and long overdue promotion. So long in fact, that after a discussion with the President, I have the honor of informing you that effective immediately, you are promoted to the grade of Colonel, United States Air Force, commander of SG-1. Congratulations Colonel O'Neill!" Jack finished, thoroughly enjoying the dumfounded look that was now on Sam's face as everyone in the commissary erupted into thunderous applause.

Getting Jacob's help, Jack started removing the Major insignias to be replaced with ones for a Colonel. Leaning in as he finished, he whispered in her ear, "I hope you don't mind, but these were my old ones."

Try as she might, Sam simply could not find any words and merely nodded her approval as everyone began to approach to offer their congratulations.

What little remained of the evening passed in a haze for Sam as she was still have a hard time believing that she had just skipped a rank and went from a Major to a Colonel. She couldn't recall a situation where anyone had skipped over a rank, especially the rank of Lt. Colonel.

***

When they arrived home that evening, Sam had finally found her voice and Jack was about to hear the resounding proof of that.

After they had changed out of their dress blues and settled on to their couch in more comfortable clothes, Sam sat cross-legged on one side to face Jack and simply said, "Start talking."

'_Wow_,' Jack thought, '_who knew that two simple words could be… well so scary, when they came from your wife_,' who happened to have a no nonsense look on her face.

As quickly as he could, Jack went over what had happened when he left the commissary with the President and Jacob. He even explained as best he could about the promotion. As it turns out, she had already been approved for a promotion to Lt. Colonel; the news just hadn't gotten around yet. So after Jack was promoted to General and commander of the base, which put Sam in line to be the commander of SG-1 and given that it's the flagship team it is preferred that a full-bird Colonel is in command.

"And besides, one of the perks of being a General is being able to do really cool stuff like that," Jack pleaded to his wife.

"It's ok… really, I just wanted to see how fast you would talk," Sam finished with a trademark Jack O'Neill smirk.

"Ok, with that look on your face it's official: you are most definitely an O'Neill now. Besides as I explained to the President; the base just wouldn't be the same without Colonel O'Neill in command of SG-1. He of course readily agreed, but the best part was that it confused dad even more than when he found out we were married."

"Tomorrow General Hammond and the President will work out the new chain of command structure for us, but until then I just want to enjoy the rest of my evening with my wife," Jack finished, pulling Sam towards him so that they could lie together on the couch.

TBC

A/N: Please don't give me a hard time about the rank. I had already established Sam as a Major earlier in the story and given the speed of the events of this chapter I needed her to become a Colonel because it allowed Jack to use his former Colonel insignias, otherwise where could he have come up with Lt. Colonel insignias in a matter of minutes. Anyways, it's just how I needed it to be for the story.

Feed back is greatly appreciated.


	9. Chapter 9 The First Day

A/N: Sorry about the slight delay in posting, I had a crazy, busy weekend at work. Enjoy!

Chapter 9 – The First Day

After a few days of transition, it was finally Monday morning and Jack's first official day as the Commanding Officer of Stargate Command. Sam had left the house early to go in and get a few things finished up before the day got into full swing, so he couldn't even look forward to riding with her to the base.

When he finally arrived at the mountain he noticed a few new, yet familiar faces at the first security checkpoint ahead of him. As he approached the guards noticed him and were getting ready to say something when he shook his head with a smirk on his face and mouthed the word 'mister'. This was too good of an opportunity and he didn't want it to be blown by having the guards calling him General.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" Jack casually asked, signing in, making sure not to say their ranks.

"Hello Mr. O'Neill, just getting these new recruits squared away," the sergeant replied motioning to the two lieutenants standing in front of him. "They are assigned to the part of the complex that you work in."

"Well in that case I'll make sure that they get where they are supposed to go," Jack said with a devilish look on his face.

Hearing the talk behind them, the two young officers turned around and immediately got a huge smile on their face as they both said in unison, "Professor O'Neill!"

The first, a Lt. Ryan, continued, "This is quite a surprise, we certainly weren't expecting to see you again so soon. You work here?"

"Yep, starting a new job today," Jack said, making his way through the last part of the checkpoint. The best part was that he wasn't even lying; it was a new job, just not a new place of work.

Making their way to the first elevator, he knew that the guards had picked up on what was going on and would radio the other checkpoints and pass it on. Fifteen minutes later, they had finally made it through the final checkpoint and onto the last elevator.

"So," Jack started to say, "I have to report to the CO's office, what about you two?"

"The base's second in command, a Colonel O'Neill," Lt. Austin said, looking down at their orders, to confirm that he got the name right.

"Well, I'm sure you'll be meeting the CO at some point during the morning, maybe we'll see each other then," Jack said as they got off the elevator.

Jack made his way off the elevator after a few more levels and made his way to the locker room so that he could change into his BDUs. He didn't usually like Mondays, but today was already off to a great start. Recruits that he had taught at the Academy were starting here today and thanks to some understanding guards, they still didn't know that he was in the Air Force, much less the Commander of the base, '_oh yea_' he thought, '_today is definitely going to be a great day_.'

After a short while Jack made his way to his office to start on all of the paperwork that goes along with running a base. As much as he hated doing all of it, it did help to move the day along because before he knew it two hours had passed. Looking at the clock he also realized that Sam would be finishing up with the tour for Lieutenants Ryan and Austin soon which would finish in the briefing room.

As if on cue, Sam escorted them into the briefing room and motioned for them to have a seat at the table.

"Thank you ma'am," both lieutenants said relieved to finally be able to sit down; they hadn't expected such a large base under NORAD.

"So, what do you think of the base?" Sam asked, taking a seat across from them, with a view of the General's office.

"It's impressive, but…" Lt. Ryan trailed off, not quite sure how to phrase the next part.

"We're still not sure what it is we are expected to do here, and to what end. What exactly is the purpose of this base?" Lt. Austin finished for him.

"Oh, that the real question," Jack said stepping into the briefing room from his office.

"Professor," the lieutenants started to reply recognizing the voice before turning to see who it was coming from. Once they did turn around, they immediately jumped out of their chairs and snapped to attention seeing the stars on his shoulders. "Sir!" they said in unison.

"At ease," Jack said, unable to hold back his laughter; the looks of panic and shock that they had on their face were priceless.

"Before you ask, General Hammond was the commander of this base when your orders were issued, and at the time I was second in command of this base as Colonel O'Neill. I was surprised," Jack paused, eyeing Sam, "with a promotion a few days ago in which I was made a Brigadier General and commander of this base. As I told you both earlier this morning, I'm starting a new job today," he finished with a satisfied look.

"Relax kids, take a seat and start asking all of those questions that I know you have running around in your head," Jack said taking his seat at the head of the table. They had definitely earned the right to ask a few questions, especially given the fact that they didn't even hesitate when they saw that he was a general. They had done exceptionally well at the Academy so it really shouldn't have been a surprise, but he had hoped for a second or two delay to see the dumbfounded looks on their face… although, they still didn't know about the Stargate so he might still be able to see those looks.

TBC

I hope that you were able to follow everything without any problems. Please leave a review; I love to hear what you think :)

Next up, Chapter 10 – Questions


	10. Chapter 10 Questions

Chapter 10 – Questions

"Well sir, at first we thought that you might be Col. O'Neill but as we went deeper into the mountain and everyone kept calling you 'Mr. O'Neill' and then after we went our separate ways from the elevator and we proceeded to meet Col. O'Neill well… we figured that you were just a civilian assigned to the base," Lt Austin said still trying to straighten out his own thoughts.

"So," Lt. Ryan started to say, "If our orders list Gen. Hammond as the C.O. and Col. O'Neill as the 2IC then how did there happen to still be a Col. O'Neill for us to report to after you became a Brigadier General?" he finished hoping that he was making sense.

"Ahh, easy question: Carter was promoted the same night as me," Jack finished with a smile.

"Carter?" both Lieutenants said unison unsure who he was talking about.

"Carter was my maiden name," Sam said jumping in. "I only changed my name a few days ago as a result of my recent marriage."

"What can I say, after calling her 'Carter' for over seven years there is little chance of me breaking that habit now," Jack said with a shrug.

"Sir," Sam said eyeing him.

"Ok, ok, there is no chance of me breaking that habit," he said, answering the unspoken question. "Come on guys, I'm sure you can come up with better questions than that, these have been easy, even for me. You haven't even given Carter the opportunity to try and confuse you with techno babble."

As Jack finished up the only thing Sam could do was shake her head.

"Alright, we are supposed to be working on 'analysis of deep space radar telemetry'," Ryan said quoting what had been told to them about the purpose of this base. "But we have yet to see anything that supports that on the entire base… and this is quite a large base," he finished looking forward to the answer.

"So, saw through our cover story did you?" Jack replied, clearly amused. "After close to eight years, they have yet to come up with anything better. Anyways, the only true part of the cover is 'space'. What, still no guesses?" he said looking at their confused faces. "Ok, I give, that's where we really work," he stated like it should be obvious.

"Sir, you've got to explain a little more than that," Sam interjected.

"Our standing orders are to acquire weapons or technology that could help Earth in the fight against the Goa'uld, a parasitic alien race bent on galactic domination, and to make allies to aide us in this fight," Jack finished quickly and casually. This time he was able to savor their looks of surprise, confusion, and utter disbelief all rolled into one.

After several minutes of silence, it finally sunk in that Gen. O'Neill wasn't joking around and that he was in fact completely serious. Sensing that the time was right, Sam started give and overview of the entire program including how it came to be.

***

Sam was close to wrapping things up nearly an hour later when Walter announced, "Off-world activation!"

"It's SG-7's scheduled return sir," Sam said before Jack could even open his mouth to ask.

"Well, let's raise the blast door, it's time they saw the Stargate," Jack said, turning his back to the Stargate. He made have become jaded to seeing the Stargate activate but not to other's reactions to seeing it for the first time.

Moments later the gate activated and predictably the two young officers jumped backwards and donned the all too familiar expression of amazement and wonder that everyone gets the first time they see the Gate in action. The eyes were the only thing that changed with each individual; some looked like kids who just found out about Santa Clause, how Austin and Ryan looked now, and others looked like they were trying to figure out exactly how it all works, like Sam did when she first saw it, and everything in between.

"We have been at this a while now," Jack said snapping them back to the moment, "So why don't you two head down there, check out the gate up close and then join the Colonel and I in the commissary for lunch."

The lieutenants quickly made their way down to the gate room while Jack and Sam headed off to get some lunch

***

Fifteen minutes later Jack and Sam were starting to eat their lunch and were already deep in conversation when Ryan and Austin entered. "Oh come on Sam, you had just as much fun as I did, I could tell."

Sam kept on picking at her lunch while Jack simply stared at her, "Ok Jack, you're right I did, happy now?" she playfully snapped back.

"Yep," was Jack's simple reply, taking a big bite of jello. He had seen them enter because of his seat at the table and knew that the fun wasn't over. If they hadn't been curious about his and Sam's relationship before because of some of the banter and the obviously same last names, they definitely would be now because he knew that they heard her call him by his first name.

They had agreed to keep a low profile on base, but when there was absolutely no work involved they had mutually decided to use each other's first names, it was enough of a distinction that they didn't have any trouble switching back and forth between the two.

Ryan and Austin quickly grabbed and filled up their lunch trays all the while exchanging questioning looks, they couldn't have been the only ones to hear the exchange between the General and the Colonel, but no one else seemed to care.

"Umm…" Ryan started to say, taking an empty seat at the table.

"I see you found your way," Jack said, seeing the questioning looks on their faces he added, "Permission to speak freely," knowing exactly what had them confused.

"In that case sir," Ryan began, "What exactly is going on between you two? We just heard Colonel O'Neill call you 'Jack' and while we know that it is your name it's not how we expected to hear her respond to the base CO."

"If she was addressing me in my role as CO then you would be correct in saying that it wasn't appropriate, but she wasn't she was talking to me as her husband… we're married," Jack said.

"We got married while Jack was assigned to the Academy so it isn't against regulations, we were out of the same chain of command for those few months," Sam interjected.

"Well that certainly does explain quite a few things," Austin said looking a lot more relaxed now.

"In fact we will be having another wedding ceremony soon enough that the whole base will be invited to and we would love it if you two could make it," Sam said genuinely hoping that they would come. Jack had had a little too much fun at their expense today and she wanted to make sure that they had an opportunity to get back at him off base and off duty.

TBC

A/N: I just finished this chapter while watching the Olympics and the U.S. skater, Rachael Flatt, is a senior at Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs… I don't know if it's just me but I found that to be just absolutely hilarious – anyways, just thought I would share that tidbit. Well, I hoped that you enjoyed this chapter and will take the time to leave a review – there is only one chapter left now, the wedding.


	11. Chapter 11 The Wedding

A/N: First of all, I'm sure that I haven't said it enough, but thanks to all that have been following this story and especially those that have reviewed – I do appreciate it and it has helped me to make this story so much more that what I had originally planned. And second, sorry for taking so long to finish up this last chapter, and subsequently this story (it is the last chapter). I had a basic premise of what I wanted to have happen but then got a bad case of writer's block and it has taken me a lot longer than I would have liked to get this written. Anyways, here is what I was able to come up with, I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 11 – The Wedding

Jack and Sam were able to get an open day at the Academy chapel that was only three months away. It was only fitting that ceremony be there since everyone, except for one person, hadn't been to the first one.

While they were having the ceremony in the chapel, the reception was to be outside and when the Saturday of their wedding came around Jack and Sam were pleased with the way the day was shaping up. The sun was out and there was a pleasant, continuous light breeze, all in all it couldn't have been more perfect if they had a Touchstone weather device to help them out.

For most it would have been a relatively small wedding since it was just family and close friends that were invited, but not for Jack and Sam. For them their family included not only blood relatives but pretty much everyone that worked at Stargate Command. As far as the close friends that they invited, the list included the President of the United States, the Air Force Chief of Staff, and the Superintendent of the Air Force Academy.

Looking at the crowd of a few hundred enlisted personnel and officers, with a few civilians in the mix, no one passing by would have expected it to be the joyous wedding ceremony that it was.

***

Glancing in the mirror, Sam was glad that she decided to forego the traditional wedding dress in favor of something a little more comfortable for her. The dress she wore defined simple elegance and was a dark shade of blue; in fact it was an almost exact match to the color of her dress uniform.

Sure she was getting married, well technically just renewing her earlier vows, but the part she was most looking forward to was the reception afterwards and being able to share it with everyone. Keeping that in mind, Sam had quickly arrived at her decision about what to wear and had never once second-guessed it. There was absolutely no way she was going to be standing around with a few hundred people mostly wearing dress blues, her husband included, while being the lone figure wearing a white dress, _'Nope, definitely not going to happen'_ she thought to herself taking one last look in the mirror.

Before she knew it she was at the front of the church and Jack was being told that he could now kiss the bride. Up until this point it had been a traditional service, but upon hearing those words, Jack decided to add his own little twist to the end.

"About time," he said with a smirk. Stepping forward Jack reached out to gently hold Sam's face and said "Come here," before pulling her forward into a passionate kiss, dipping her backwards into his arms.

At this sight, everyone in the chapel burst into laughter and applause, not the least bit surprised by his actions, in fact, most were surprised that he had waited that long.

It wasn't long before the reception was in full swing and Jack and Sam were walking around talking to everyone and receiving their congratulations. They were completely at ease with everyone and Lieutenants Ryan and Austin quickly found an opportunity to approach the happy couple.

"Sir, Ma'am, thank you so much for inviting us. It was a wonderful ceremony and we couldn't be happier for you both," Lt. Ryan said glancing at Lt. Austin to see if he had anything to add.

"Please, drop the 'Sir' for today, you'll give me a headache if you keep it up," Jack said before anyone else had the chance to speak.

Shaking her head, Sam spoke up, eyeing her husband, "Thank you for coming, we're glad that you could make it."

Knowing that it was in his best interest, Jack decided that he should be a little more sociable, "So, are you two having a good time?"

"Of course, it's just…" Lt. Ryan trailed off, looking around at the setting.

"It's a little weird to be back here so soon," Lt. Austin said, motioning to the Academy.

"Yes, well this time you aren't students anymore and I'm not Dr. O'Neill anymore, so altogether things are definitely looking up," Jack said with a smile.

Approaching the group, Daniel couldn't help but overhear the last part of the conversation and was a little shocked. "What's this I hear about a Dr. O'Neill?" he casually asked with his eyebrows raised.

"Umm…" was all that Jack could say while Sam just stood there trying not to burst out laughing.

"Dr. Jackson, didn't you know that General O'Neill went by 'Dr. O'Neill' while he was here at the Academy teaching this past semester," Lt. Austin said, suddenly feeling a lot more relaxed.

"Jack… with a doctorate?" Daniel asked in a state of disbelief. Looking at the faces of everyone standing around him, he knew that it was true. "So," Daniel started to say, not missing a beat, "If someone asks for Dr. O'Neill how will you know if they mean you or Sam?" he asked, purposefully trying to irritate Jack, not that he really had to try it just came naturally after awhile.

"Daniel, so help me. If you start calling me," was all Jack could say before he was cut off.

"Relax Jack, I wasn't planning on it," Daniel said laughing. "If you thought I wasn't going to mess with you since it's your wedding day, well then you must have had a head injury to go along with that knee one you had."

"Ha, ha," Jack said with a completely straight face. Reaching out for Sam's arm, he continued, "We'll if you will excuse us, I believe I see the President getting ready to leave."

Sure enough, Daniel turned around and could see the President making his way away from the crowd.

Jack and Sam reached him right before he started to make his way to the approaching limo. "Mr. President, thank you so much for coming, we really didn't think that you would be able to make it here again for this," Sam said, truly appreciative that he had been able to come.

"Yes, sir. Thank you! Not just for coming, but for your help with everything else as well," Jack said, shaking the hand that he was offered.

"It was my pleasure," the President responded, with a smile. "It was definitely more crowded that the first time," he said taking in everyone that was still gathered about, "but just as enjoyable. I was happy to be a part of it. Now, if you'll excuse me it's time for me to get back to Washington D.C."

"Oh, Jack," the President said as he was entering his limo, "I have no doubt of this, but I'll say it anyways. Enjoy your honeymoon, you've both earned it." And with that he shut the door and the limo drove off.

Taking Sam into his arms he murmured "Definitely" before leaning in to kiss his wife.

The End

Well, there you have it – I hope everyone enjoyed this story. Now that I have this one finished I can work on the sequel to 'Unending – Revised' and not feel guilty about it. I have had ideas for that story running around my head for quite some time so look for me to start posting it with in the coming weeks. Thanks for reading and of course reviews are always welcome!


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